5/7/18 – Monday Night Raw Review

Kurt addresses Money in the BankQuality opening segment that answered a lot of early questions. Two triple threat matches (Yawn) were made to determine some early Money in the Bank competitors. Braun and KO were both strong on the mic. KO coming off as the whiny heel who’s trying to make excuses for losing was good. The opening match of the night was logically set. Decent start.

Braun Strowman def Kevin OwensThis was one of the best opening matches to Raw in quite a while. They let KO get some offense and let Braun look vulnerable. Despite the loss, KO looked really strong. (Maybe that five year contract extension helped) He sold those shoulder blocks like a freaking champ. These two proved that with talent, you can still make a very predictable match a very good one.

Baron Corbin and The Revival def No Way Jose & Titus WorldwideI didn’t really see any of this match but the right team won. No Way Jose is over with the crowd (which I know WWE doesn’t give a damn about) so it would be nice to take advantage of that. Having Titus Worldwide hang around him isn’t going to help his career in any way. Baron Corbin needs a better feud than this.

Ember Moon def Ruby Riott & Sasha BanksEmber Moon is here, ladies and gentleman. Her presence and talent made this match a good one. She doesn’t care if it’s only a Raw episode, she’s out here pulling off PPV spots. She’s going to single handedly make the Raw Women’s MITB worth watching. The angle of Bayley finally coming out to help Sasha is dumb. Still no direction between the two and I no longer care about them squaring off. Congratulations WWE, you ruined my intrigue for what would be a fantastic women’s match.

Bobby Lashley sit down interviewUhhhh…what was this? I was anticipating this because it finally provided an opportunity for Bobby Lashley to give his character a little development. It did none of that. Why did he come back? Why is he here? What are his goals? What is he going to do in WWE? I don’t give a damn about his childhood stories and being bullied by his sisters.

Jinder Mahal def Chad GableI guess I can understand WWE’s viewpoint in giving Jinder a win to even things up, but I think Chad continuing to get underdog wins would serve just as well. Then again, I just enjoy seeing Jinder lose. I like that Chad Gable is on WWE TV, he’s got underrated talent. With him being present and Jinder being anti-Angle, I could potentially see a tag team revival on the horizon. Perhaps an alpha-like team, if you catch my drift.

Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre def Heath Slater & RhynoWe have our next challengers for Matt & Bray and the team that should beat Matt & Bray. These two guys are on another level right now and nobody else is even close. McIntyre is already a main event caliber talent and working with him has visibly made Dolph Ziggler infinitely better.

Bobby Roode def EliasZZZZZZZZZ. Match was eh, as all three in three straight weeks have been. Not giving Bobby much recognition unless a heel turn happens. It’s becoming unbearable. That’s it.

Seth Rollins def Mojo RawleyNot too bad of a match honestly. Seth just takes bumps so well. Mojo held his own and didn’t look that bad either. The pre-match segment with Seth was brilliant. He’s focused on making the Intercontinental Title THE title rather than winning MITB, that’s how it should be. Make that title relevant, it’s better that way. Mojo’s mic work was horrendous.

Matt & Bray def Bo & AxelI just thought it was funny to see the two brothers in Bray & Bo going at it. Other than that, the match was pretty lame. Matt & Bray haven’t necessarily been lighting up the ring since pairing together. I still think they’ve got potential, but going to need some better competition. I’m indifferent on the double Sister Abigail.

Finn Balor def Sami Zayn & Roman ReignsDon’t get too excited, Roman Reigns will find a way in the MITB match. We will probably be forced to see a Roman-Jinder match for it to happen too. Puke. I do like Finn being in, he’ll add a fun dynamic. The match itself was decent. I enjoy when action spills to the outside on occasion. Based on results tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more increased tension between Sami & KO soon.

OverallWith as bad as Backlash was, this was refreshingly decent. There were some down spots, Bobby Lashley’s sit down interview was incredibly disappointing. For the most part, the wrestling was pretty solid. We got a lot of MITB leadup, already more build for that show than Backlash. The show didn’t do a great job of making me want to tune in next week, but it could’ve been a whole lot worse.